Electric battery



- plati UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAYMOND C. BENNER AND HARRY F. FRENCH DI FREMONT, OHIO, ASSIG-NORS, IBY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATIOLI or NEW YORK.

1,303,453. 1W0 Drawing.

State of Ohio, and Fremont, in the county of Sandusky and State of O hio,-have invented a certain new and useful Improve ment in Electric Batteries, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. This invention relates to electric batteries 7 and is particularly adapted to those with an alkaline electrolyte,such as sodium of potassium hydroxid solution.

Lead peroxid has long been used as an active material in primary and secondary batteries with an acid electrolyte. However, it has heretofore been considered impractical to use lead peroxid, or other oxid of lead, in alkaline electrolytes, because the design of the cell has been limited by the tendency of the lead to dissolve and then by out to short circuit the cell. We have scovered a way to overcome both of these difficulties. i

Elemental sulfur, when mixed with the lead peroxid which is used as the cathode in a cell having an alkaline electrolyte, has the e'culiar property of preventing the lead rom going into solution in the electrolyte and plating out on the zinc electrode. It is therefore possible to employ lead oxid depolarizers in cells of a design with which it has heretofore beenconsidered incapable of use, that is, in cells having'the zinc relatively close to the depolarizing element.

A further improvement effected b the addition of the sulfur is a considera le raise in voltage.

llhere are various ways of incorporating the sulfur in the cell, an advantageous way being merely to mix the powdered sulfur with the oxid.

Ihe invention is not to be limited to lead peroxid (E00,) and sulfur, as the same effects are obtained when using red lead (lPb,O,) or litharge (PbQ) with sulfur.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ELECTRIC BATTERY.

Patented May 13, 1919.

Application filed December 2, 1916. Serial No. 184,732.

on service tests.

Closed circuit voltage.

0 n fg?" Sulfur ciiciiit Am 3 A d 7 v0 a vg. urgo Imtml days. tug test.

Pbo, None 1. 46 1. is .03 .025 Pbo, 840% 1.56 1.23 I .84 .745 Pba04 None. 74 70 47 563 Pba04 840% 1.04 .72 .74 .636 PhD None. .75 69 80 613 PhD 8 1( 1.04 .90 .80 .629

Inasmuch as soluble sulfids and a number of insoluble sulfur compounds will increase the voltage of a copper oxid cell, as set forth and claimed in our copending application filed October 5, 1916, Serial No.123,85'6, we

believe that under certain conditions such compounds of sulfur may be used with lead eroxid instead of elemental sulfur. Our invention istherefore not to be limited to sulfur, as it extends. to the use of chemical equivalents of sulfur. We also find that the added sulfur has thepropert of raising the voltage of various other-oxi s when the latter are used as depolarizers. As exam les of such, we may mention ferric oxid (Fe antimony trioxid (810 0,) cadmium oxid ((M0) and cerium oxid (deO Having described our invention, what we claim is 1. In electric batteries with alkaline electrolyte, an oxid of lead having sulfur intimatel mixed therewith.

2. 11 electric batteries with alkaline electrolyte, a negative element containing lead peroxid and sulfur mixed therewith.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto aflix our signatures.

RAYMOND C. BENNER. HARRY F. FRENCH. 

